1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to fuel assemblies for nuclear reactors and, more particularly, is concerned with an improved hand held tool for removing and replacing a removable top nozzle of a reconstitutable fuel assembly.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In most nuclear reactors, the reactor core is comprised of a large number of elongated fuel assemblies. Conventional designs of these fuel assemblies include a plurality of fuel rods and control rod guide thimbles held in an organized array by grids spaced along the fuel assembly length and attached to the control rod guide thimbles. Top and bottom nozzles on opposite ends of the fuel assembly are secured to the guide thimbles which extend slightly above and below the ends of the fuel rods. At the top of the fuel assembly, the guide thimbles are attached in passageways provided in the adapter plate of the top nozzle. The guide thimbles may each include an upper sleeve for attachment to the top nozzle.
During operation of such fuel assembly in a nuclear reactor, a few of the fuel rods may occasionally develop cracks along their lengths, thus establishing the possibility that fission products having radioactive characteristics may seep or otherwise pass into the primary coolant of the reactor. Since the fuel rods are supported by the grids in a spaced array with the guide thimbles between the top and bottom nozzles of the fuel assembly, it is difficult to detect and remove the failed fuel rods.
Until recently, to gain access to these rods it was necessary to remove the affected fuel assembly from the nuclear reactor core and then remove the bottom nozzle after overturning the assembly. This is time consuming and requires large equipment for overturning.
In view of the high costs associated with replacing fuel assemblies, reconstitutable fuel assemblies were developed to minimize operating and maintenance expenses. The general approach to making a fuel assembly reconstitutable is to provide it with a removable top nozzle. One reconstitutable fuel assembly construction is illustrated and described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,631,168 to Shallenberger et al, which is assigned to the assignee of the present invention. It incorporates an attaching structure for removably mounting the top nozzle on the upper ends of the control rod guide thimbles.
The attaching structure includes a plurality of outer sockets defined in the adapter plate of the top nozzle, a plurality of inner sockets each formed on the upper end of one of the guide thimbles, and a plurality of removable locking tubes inserted in the inner sockets to maintain them in locking engagement with the outer sockets. Each outer socket is in the form of a passageway through the adapter plate which has an annular groove. Each inner socket is in the form of a hollow upper end portion of the guide thimble having an annular bulge which seats in the annular groove when the guide thimble end portion is inserted in the adapter plate passageway. A plurality of elongated axial slots are provided in the guide thimble upper end portion to permit inward elastic collapse of the slotted portion so as to allow the larger bulge diameter to be inserted within and removed from the annular circumferential groove in the passageway of the adapter plate. In such manner, the inner socket of the guide thimble is inserted into and withdrawn from locking engagement with the outer socket.
The locking tube is inserted from above the top nozzle into a locking position in the hollow upper end portion of the guide thimble forming the inner socket. When inserted in its locking position, the locking tube retains the bulge of the inner socket in its expanded locking engagement with the annular groove and prevents the inner socket from being moved to a compressed releasing position in which it could be withdrawn from the outer socket. In such manner, the locking tubes maintain the inner sockets in locking engagement with the outer sockets, and thereby the attachment of the top nozzle on the upper ends of the guide thimbles.
Furthermore, to prevent inadvertent escape due to vibration forces and the like, heretofore the locking tubes have been secured in their locking positions. In the one construction of the locking tubes disclosed in above-cited patent, after insertion of the locking tubes into their locking positions within the inner sockets of the hollow upper end portions of the guide thimbles, a pair of bulges are formed in the upper portion of each locking tube. These bulges fit into the circumferential bulge in the upper end portion of the guide thimble and provide an interference fit therewith.
In another construction of the locking tubes disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,699,758 to Shallenberger et al, which is also assigned to the assignee of the present invention, several small dimples are preformed on the exterior surface of the upper end portion of the locking tube circumferentially spaced from one another and projecting from the locking tube exterior surface. The use of the preformed dimples eliminates the necessity to form bulges in the locking tube after insertion into the locking position. Also the preformed dimples allow the locking tube to be reused, whereas the bulged locking tubes were discarded after each use.
The reconstitutable fuel assembly construction briefly described above has proven to be an improvement by which domestic and foreign utilities can minimize both operating and maintenance expenses. A fixture developed for removing and replacing the top nozzle of the reconstitutable fuel assembly is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,664,875 to Shallenberger et al, also assigned to the assignee of the present invention. One major problem with the top nozzle removal and replacement fixture of the cited patent is the considerable weight of the fixture which makes it mandatory to employ an overhead crane and blocking device in order to maneuver the fixture to align and insert the lower ends of the alignments rods of the fixture through the guide thimble holes in the top nozzle and into the guide thimbles.
Consequently, a need still remains for an alternative design of a tool to use to effectively and efficiently carry out removal and replacement of the top nozzle.